I heart you Polska

We spent the past weekend in Poland. Friday morning our flight departed at 7.00 am. Therefore, we were meant to arise at 4.45 to catch a 5.32 tram to the airport. At 5.32 Joe woke up & said, the alarm says 5.32. 'Are you serious?' I responded. I stood up, looked at my phone and yes, it was in fact 5.32. We had a momentary mini spaz attack in which we thought we could reasonably cut out brushing our teeth until we got to the airport, before we realized we could just call a cab & be there in less than 15 minutes. So that's what we did. We took care of our oral hygiene before leaving the house, Joe threw on a hat & we were off. The random tone of the day didn't end there. As we boarded the plane, the super nice, super 1011 flight attendant directed us to the 'business' seats on the plane due to Joe's 'condition.' There were roughly 40 people on our flight to Warsaw, so we had the whole 'business section;)' to ourselves. The flight was easy & calm. Then we walked through the airport, expecting to be met at the other end by our guide for the day. We departed, but saw no one with the business logo, or our names listed. We had to pick up our train tickets in the airport & pull out some cash, so we burned some time doing that, then returned to the arrivals area. Still, no one. Hhmm, odd. Then Joe recieved a call on his phone, the 1970s Polish van that was supposed to be our tour transportation for the day was broken down on the side of the road. Could we wait 30 minutes for someone to come collect us? Not long after, we were greeted by the lady we'd had extensive email contact with. It's weird sometimes to "speak" to someone so many times in weeks leading up to an event, then meet them & think, hm, I expected you'd be older than me. (Insert whatever sentiment you like.)

It ended up we didn't get to take our tour in this old Polish van. But, we did get the pleasure of a 1994 Fiat 2 door & a delightful guide, Tomas, who had a clever grip on the English language & referred to the company's Polish van as "a piggy bank." This tour we did was 'off the beaten path' -- literally. We passed through tenement neighborhoods, the ground litered with broken glass & courtyards housing Virgin Mary statues (during the Russian occupation, the Poles couldn't go to church & gather, so they erected neighborhood places of worship). We saw this, the longest building in Warsaw which was building during Communism to house maximum numbers of people. It's like the projects, on their side. We ate lunch at a 'milk bar,' which is a government sponsored restaurant for 5plz, under 2 dollars (for two of us and Joe had meat). Now that I think of it, I suppose this could have been the culprit for my later drama. It was sobering, lively, educational & a great way to spend our day in Warsaw. We learned & saw more in our 6 hours with our guide than we do in many other cities.

Later in the afternoon, Tomas dropped us at the train station where we would catch a train to Krakow. We opted for first class tickets and it was glorious. It was the nicest, newest train I've ever been on. This means it bested Swiss trains. Please, don't tell my neighbors. Although, there was an obnoxious group of 20-something Poles a row in front of us who watched videos at full volume on their labtop the whole way, which rather tainted the ability to enjoy the experience, but ah well. About 2.5 hours later we pulled into Krakow & we're off to find our apartment. After a slight hiccup/confusion, we were on the right path & then easily found the Main Square & the apartment. Unfortunately, the place was NOTHING like the pictures the hotel posted online. It was circa 1968, smelled like mildew & gas & had it's own built in alarm clock of pigeons cooing on the fire escape outside the room (which sounded oddly like a person being strangled). We basically dropped our crap, bitched for a while, then hightailed it out of there to find food & mental fortitude to handle the apt, in the form of beer. We had a few beers (3-4), ate some food, hung around, then headed back.

The next morning I woke up feeling very ill. This was perplexing, 3-4 beers...seems okay. We both assumed I would shake it off. However, the usual tricks, being sick, drinking Coke, etc. didn't work their magic. After about an hour outside the room, I returned to nap. Then spent another hour outside the room, then napped. Rinse, repeat. I took 3 naps on Saturday and was in bed by 10pm. I would feel better for about an hour, then turn into a walking, pained zombie again. Finally, Joe is recovered & ready to go and I'm bedridden. Go figure. Unfortunately, Sunday wasn't much better. However, we did still manage to see most of the Krakow tourists sights which were very close to where we were staying. We bought LOTS of amazing Polish handmade wares. We strolled the square & bumped into an insane amount of people (the town was packed), and just enjoyed the feeling of the city. Unlike Warsaw which was completely ravaged in WWII, Krakow was basically unscathed. The old town is based around a vast, charming square that is lined with restaurants, bars, music venues, etc. There is really no contest between the cities, Krakow is the jewel. However, Warsaw has struggled more and the city, the people, have a stronger connection to their history because of the ways it's defined their lives. We were so happy to experience another part of Eastern Europe. We've loved every city we've visited in the former bloc and I think it has something to do with this connection. People don't take their lives and their freedoms for granted here. Everything is vibrant and dusty, often full of hope, yet steeped in depression. It's incredible to see how much can be restored in 20 years, yet how much work there is still to be done. Our guide in Warsaw was incensed by the protestors I refered to in a photo, outside the President's home. They consist of a large population of the country's voters & they believe in this conspiracy that the President's plane crash & subsequent death were intentional. He stated how ashamed he was that and these people brought embarassement to his country. I responded, 'but you must feel so lucky that your countrymen have the right now to protest, to speak their minds, no matter how misguided you may think them.' He didn't respond, perhaps I'd missed the point of his shame, but it seemed to me like a powerful indication that finally these older Poles, who previously had their lives dictated for them, were now protesting, smiling, speaking & standing for themselves.